


look for our myths to the cities

by kyrilu



Category: Dominion (TV)
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Introspection, Vega (Dominion), Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-17
Updated: 2014-09-17
Packaged: 2018-02-17 17:29:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2317562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyrilu/pseuds/kyrilu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ten things about Vega, and one more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	look for our myths to the cities

**Author's Note:**

> (Quick aside: I kind of wish Michael/Noma was a thing...)

**1.**

There is a dry wind blowing across Vega. It’s as if there’s something tightly wound in the sky releasing itself, a twisted knot unraveling with wisps of breezes, trailing out across the air and down to the earth. This wind is not a north wind, because Vega is never _cold_ , and anyway, do they truly need fairy tale sigils of danger and storms?

They already have the angels, after all.

 

**2.**

In terms of established beliefs in history, the Church of the Savior is a young religion. Zachary Harwick attracts the post-Annihilation War crowd with his sweeping sermons and his shaking fists, with his grief and his steady tenderness. He teaches General Riesen's little daughter how to weave wreaths of flowers, while David Whele’s son watches him with solemn eyes.

This is how the two heirs of House Whele and House Riesen take saviorism as their faith and their duty. The principate and the princess usher in a different era, a new epoch--there are less sweeping sermons and shaking fists these days, only gentle promises and charity.

Or so it seems.

 

**3.**

William Whele can’t exactly remember how he became a black acolyte. Mostly, it’s a blur of pain and anger and dissatisfaction-- _this isn’t enough, this doesn’t show me anything_ \--and he wakes up from dreams of dark feathers with his teeth bared, swearing that he is more than his father. He reaches over, and clenches his fist over his hood.

There is a sleeper cell of black acolytes in every city. Vega is no exception.

 

**4.**

There are angels on the streets of Vega, and there are orphans, too. The children sneak out of the tunnels, easily detected by their rags and dirty faces, and they dart through throngs of people, picking pockets and whispering urgently to each other.

Louis always gives them apples. Once upon a time, after his father had banished Adam and Eve, he was one of the soldiers who had stood beside Uriel as they guarded Eden. He still remembers feeling the heat of her sword.

Now, he smiles at the ragged children. With a knife, he cuts the apples carefully, and he carves them up and arranges the slices so that they form makeshift animals. This apple is a rabbit, while this one is an owl. This one is an elephant, and this one is a duck, and this one is a monkey.

Some of the children remember how these animals looked like, from zoos or books or television before the war. As time goes on, there are less children who understand.

(But because of the statues in front of an old hotel in the city, and because of the whispered rumors about House Whele, they always do recognize the lions.)

 

**5.**

There is a statue of Jeep Hanson in Vega. Sometimes Alex Lannon slips out to look at it and laugh, because he thinks it doesn’t look like his father. When the years go by, he wonders if he was wrong to laugh after all - it’s getting harder to remember his father’s face.

 

**6.**

Soon after the founding of Vega, the children are taught to resist angel possession as a security measure. The consul Portia Thorn calls in Michael to ask if he has any input to add on the program, showing him the techniques that they’ve taught the young ones, and adding that they’re thinking of instituting one as well for adults.

He watches. It isn’t anything like the chants for eviction, but something very human. The methods have meditative uses, and Michael thinks that they might shake off a particularly weak eight-ball upon initial intrusion, but when it comes down to it, there isn’t much that a child can do against a dog of heaven.

He doesn’t say that out loud. He merely nods, and lets the humans hold onto this illusion of safety.

 

**7.**

Portia Thorn used to sit down with her daughter and tell her: _We survived this war for a reason._ She had laid out a map of Vega, tracing her fingers across the structures and buildings. _This is our House, and there’s the Stratosphere hotel, and there’s the tunnels, and there’s the Agri-tower. These are where all the citizens live, from V-1 to V-6, and they are our responsibility._

She tells Becca that the city itself is like a human body, that Vega must be kept healthy and strong. There are so many different parts and there are different sciences to pull them together. _This isn’t a religion, Becca, mind you,_ she says. _Not that rabble that Harwick’s been going on about. It’s preservation. Continuation. Keeping every heart beating as best we can, so the main heart--the sum of every part, Vega herself--won’t ever shut down._

Maybe, one day, they’ll forget about the angels.

Portia Thorn leaves Vega earlier than she expected, crumpling from a sudden heart attack. Becca resolves to finish building the city in her place, and she decides that she’ll go beyond that, too.

 

**8.**

Vega is, in many ways, the Savior's city, even though he was never bequeathed with a fierce desire to protect her because of what he suffered between her walls. The clasped hands are on the altars and the praises to him are written on the stained glass windows; the flowers are strewn in intricate patterns and the prayers are all for him.

Alex doesn't enjoy these things as _his_ , but he sneaks out of the barracks to watch Claire speak to parishioners. He's brought Bixby with him to the church, and he hauls her up over his shoulders so she can see the service.

 

 **9**.

It's strange being a soldier for a species that is not your own. She was never one of the ones who often came down to earth. She's used to being surrounded by her kind.

Noma is the only angel in Vega who has visibly and firmly chosen a side. The others avoid her, fading into their masquerade as humans, although sometimes she'll stop to have a conversation with Louis at the market.

When she goes up to the Stratosphere hotel to report to Michael, she stretches out her wings inside the tower. Beats them slowly, and remembers how it's like to fly. This place is the only place she can do this--there is no privacy in the world below. Angels are the enemy and she has her duties to the Corps.

When Michael sees her do this the first time, he unfurls his wings as well. It’s an automatic response, muscle memory, the superior delivering orders to his kneeling lieutenant, both of them with their wings out and ready to fulfill their missions for the Lord.

Michael seems to have realized his response. An unfathomable expression flickers across his face. Then he offers her a break from her duties, and asks if she would like to go flying with him in the desert.

 

**10.**

Even with all the rush of forming Vega’s foundations, Edward Riesen manages to find the time to check on Claire during nighttimes. He slips out of his office, brushing aside maps and plans, and sits by his daughter’s bedside.

He makes sure that she’s breathing. It’s a small thing that he and Clementine used to do when she was a baby: watch her chest rise and fall, watch the fluttering of her eyelashes. He is not the sort of father who would hum like Clementine once did, although he still can remember her songs.

Sometimes she stirs awake. She smiles when she sees him; even though it’s late, Edward lets her stay up and talk to him.

Claire is a smart kid. She’s got a knack for absorbing everything that that preacher’s been talking about, animating concepts with enthusiastic gestures. She points outside the window, talking about the corners of the rapidly emerging city that are being constructed each day--Edward doesn’t mind allowing her to explore, because one day, this is going to be _her_ city.

He makes Vega’s hierarchy for the citizens, for himself, and for her. House Riesen is at the very top. _They’re_ at the very top. This is the best measure of refuge he can give her, and he doesn’t anticipate the anger in her eyes, years later, whenever she looks at him.

 

**+1.**

God the Father has left the heavens and the earth, but Vega never will. She is their mother, holding the power to shelter them and ruin them. She will not leave them - not now, and is steadfast and patient as Claire Riesen pulls apart the V-structure from its seams.

Claire puts her hands over the curve of her stomach. Vega cradles her and her city close to her heart, and the dry wind blows.

 


End file.
